Deadline Approaching: CfA for 2020-2021 Fellowships at USHMM

Visiting Scholar Programs USHMM Announcement
Subject Fields
European History / Studies, German History / Studies, Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies, Humanities, Jewish History / Studies

 

2020-2021 ANNUAL FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION
Accepting Applications through November 15, 2019                              
Apply at: https://apply.ushmm.org

 

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies awards fellowships to support significant research and writing about the Holocaust. Awards are granted on a competitive basis. The Mandel Center welcomes proposals from scholars in all relevant academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, film studies, German studies, history, Jewish studies, law, literature, material culture, philosophy, political science, psychology, religion, comparative genocide studies, and others. Proposals from applicants conducting research outside the discipline of history or on Mandel Center strategic priorities are especially encouraged.  

 

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIPS

The Mandel Center awards fellowships-in-residence to candidates working on their dissertations (ABD), postdoctoral researchers, and senior scholars. Immediate postdocs and faculty between appointments will also be considered. Awards are granted on a competitive basis. A principal focus of the program is to ensure the development of a new generation of Holocaust scholars. To this end, scholars early in their careers are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants must be affiliated with an academic or research institution. Proposals from applicants conducting research outside the discipline of history or on Mandel Center strategic priorities are especially encouraged, including literature and the Holocaust; America and the Holocaust, projects utilizing the ITS collection; Jewish and especially Sephardic experiences of persecution; the Holocaust as it occurred in the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust as it occurred in North Africa.

The Mandel Center's activities span both the fifth floor of the Washington Museum and the David and Fela Shapell Family Collections, Conservation and Research Center in suburban Maryland. Fellowship winners will have access to flexible work space stations, computer, telephone, facsimile machine, and photocopier. Mandel Center Fellows also have access to the Museum’s extensive resources, including approximately 110 million pages of Holocaust-related archival documentation; library resources in over 60 languages; hundreds of thousands of oral history, film, photo, art, artifacts, and memoir collections; a Holocaust survivors and victims database; plus over 200 million images from the International Tracing Service. The Museum’s artifact collection is readily accessible to research at the new Shapell Center.

The specific fellowship and the length of the award are at the Mandel Center’s discretion.  Individual awards generally range up to eight consecutive months of residency; a minimum of three consecutive months is required. No exceptions are allowed. Fellowships of five months or longer have proven most effective.

Stipends range up to $3,700 per month for the purpose of defraying local housing and other miscellaneous living expenses and are subject to US tax law. Awards include a stipend to offset the cost of direct travel to and from Washington, DC. Residents of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area do not receive a travel stipend. The funds provided through this award may be subject to US federal and/or state tax. Please be advised the Mandel Center cannot provide individual tax advice.

The Mandel Center is able to provide visa assistance to fellows and their dependents, if necessary. Fellows are responsible for securing their own housing accommodations and health insurance. We do not provide support allowances for accompanying family members.

2020-2021 Fellowships may start as early as September 1, 2020,
and must be completed no later than December 31, 2021.

 

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

All applications must be submitted in English via an online application process, which will close on November 15, 2019. All applications must consist of the following:

  • An online application form 
  • A project proposal, in PDF format, not to exceed five single-spaced pages
  • A curriculum vitae summary, in PDF format, not to exceed four single-spaced pages
  • Two signed letters of recommendation that speak to the significance of the proposed project and the applicant’s ability to carry it out. Members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council’s Academic Committee may not write letters of recommendation.  Only two letters will be considered. Any additional letters will not be included in the applicant’s file. All application materials, including letters of recommendation for the competition should be received on November 15, 2019, and come directly from the references, not from the applicant. Directions on how to submit letters of recommendation will be e-mailed to the references only after the applicant "submits" their application. Please note the deadline for all materials.
  • Applicants who have received a fellowship award from the Mandel Center in previous cycles may not re-apply unless seven years have passed since the end date of their previous residency.

Successful project proposals should highlight the resources available at the Museum that scholars will need to access in order to support their research. An addendum listing these resources may be attached in addition to the five-page project proposal. Important resources may also be referenced in the body of the project proposal. To search the Museum’s holdings, visit collections.ushmm.org

Contact Information
Visiting Scholar ProgramsJack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust StudiesUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SWWashington, DC 20024-2126
Contact Email
vscholars@ushmm.org